The Brexit fever has taken a stranglehold on the UK with both Leave and Remain campaigners exuding confidence of victory at the historical referendum scheduled for Thursday this week. On the streets of London, there is overwhelming support for the UK to leave the European Union but this does not appear to tally with received opinion among the ruling and upper class where the Leave and Remain views appear evenly squared.
Prime Minister David Cameron has assured there would be “no turning back” from the referendum, making the Thursday date sacrosanct.
While Mr. Cameron said choosing to leave the EU in Thursday’s vote would be a “big mistake” and lead to “debilitating uncertainty” for up to a decade, the momentum on the streets suggests otherwise. “We want to leave, we want to be alone. Too many people in Britain; you get into the train you have to squeeze yourself, our facilities are stretched. We love everybody but we should be allowed to paddle our canoe”, a fresh juice seller on Kilburn High Road, North West London told Political Economist.
However Conservative Parliamentarian Michael Gove told the Sunday Telegraph the UK could become a “progressive beacon” by leaving the EU. The Leave campaigner urged people to “vote for democracy”.
The campaigns had been suspended for three days to mourn the death of Labour MP Jo Cox who was murdered in cold blood in apparent links to her strong views on the Brexit issue.
Mr Cameron said Thursday’s vote was the “ultimate democracy” and represented what Mrs Cox, 41, had stood for.
Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, Mr Cameron, who is campaigning for Remain, said Mrs Cox had “embodied Britain at her best – a country that is decent and compassionate”.
The “irreversible” referendum was a “watershed moment” for the UK and a question “about the kind of country we want to be”, he said.
“Are we going to choose Nigel Farage’s vision – one which takes Britain backwards; divides rather than unites; and questions the motives of anyone who takes a different view,” Mr Cameron wrote.
“Or will we, instead, choose the tolerant, liberal Britain; a country that doesn’t blame its problems on other groups of people; one that doesn’t pine for the past, but looks to the future with hope, optimism and confidence? I think the answer will determine what our country feels like for a very long time.”
Cameron noted that leaving the EU may have “debilitating uncertainty – perhaps for a decade until things were sorted. Higher prices, lower wages, fewer jobs, fewer opportunities for young people… How could we knowingly vote for that? I say: don’t risk it.”
Leaving the EU would also be a “one-off and permanent diminution in [Britain’s] standing in the world; an abject and self-imposed humiliation,” he argued.
Chancellor George Osborne in his view appealed to voters to back Remain, saying a vote to leave “would be the most terrible mistake for our country”.
Writing in the Mail on Sunday, he added: “And it would not be in keeping with who we are as a people. Not the British way.
“When something isn’t perfect, like the EU, we get stuck in trying to improve it. We are not quitters.”
“People should vote for democracy and Britain should vote for hope,” he said.
He also rejected the suggestion leaving the EU would cause a recession: “There are economic risks if we leave, economic risks if we remain,” he told the paper.
“My argument is that whatever happens in the future, an independent Britain will be better able to cope with those strains.”
However, at a West End Live show presented by the City of Westminster, at the weekend, most of the respondents spoken to by our correspondent on a visit to London said they “want out”. While many do not yet understand the implications of UK exit from the EU, a lot more based their argument on over-crowding of the UK space by migrants from EU countries which they said has over-burdened their facilities. Some point to crime and criminality as reason why Britain should stay away.
Their sentiment is fuelled by influential public-interest newspapers, the Sun, which has boldly taken a stand that Britain should leave.
